Midnight Bliss [Anyone]

[poss]

For crying out loud I'm running from a comedown
God forbid I know I've been a letdown
Reaching for the sky while leaving in a gutter
Kicking and screaming I am singing bloody murder

No, it was not an every day occurrence to be in the presence of an elder vampire, and a piece of her felt out of place. The look in her eyes was surprise, but also shock from the energy she felt clasp so tightly around her being for that short period of time. It shook her from the inside out, bringing with it a feeling of security. Security? Odd way to feel, especially when just moments ago she felt as though she would rather have a weapon in her hand if she were to be so close to him. Perhaps the fact that he had survived all of these years, and the very fact that he admitted such information to her willingly, allowed Anastasia to feel a greater bond of trust. No, she would not be offering her neck to this vampire any time soon, or even her back for that matter, but here, now, she no longer had the urge to wrap her hand around the cold grip of her pistol.

I'm alive when I'm vulnerable
I'm out of control, I'm losing my soul
I can't be your angel when I'm living like a devil
Can't be your lover when I'm living like a rebel

Head tilted casually off to the side, a feeling of confusion washing over her. She was unsure of why, and how, she felt so calm now. Searching his eyes for any hint that he may be using his energy to calm her, she found that if he was- he knew how to hide it well. Truth was, she knew it was not something he put there, it was something she truly felt. "No..actually I feel a bit better now, to be honest. I am not sure why.. but I do." Her muscles relax, her heart at a normal pace, and her breath was calm and even. She never hid the fact that she was confused, however, from the elder before her. "I once killed an elder." She found herself saying, hesitating a moment to question why it was she gave out such information only to decide it was too far gone to hold back now. "1300 years, from what I gathered from his followers, but no exact age was determined. He told me, right before I pushed him over the brink of existence.. that he was one of the oldest of his kind. I never had a clue just how old he was until after he was gone."[/b]

Don't want your pity and I don't want your help
Don't try and save me go take care of yourself
I'm alive! Sick of the pain I'm sick of the sorrow
Sick of today I'm sick of tomorrow

The way he spoke of bringing the end to the lives of people driving you mad couldn't have been any closer to the fact. Anastasia had only been on the face of this Earth for 25years, and already she had nearly double that in strictly vampire kills. She could feel it wearing her down every day she woke up, and every night.. she prayed she would rise a better person. An innocent person. Someone who could walk down the street without feeling as if they needed an excuse to be there. Bringing death to so many, not to mention the innocent lives taken through cross fire or simply because she had not arrived quickly enough, made her lack confidence in herself. She was paranoid.. around ever corner lurked a possible victim.. a possible predator.

His words stirred emotions of sadness and regret, pity and other things she never thought possible to feel for a vampire. She looked down, away from the elders eyes and sighed. A nervous laugh escaped her lips and she shook her head lightly. "Today I feel sorry for you, and yesterday I would have thought nothing of it. I do not know who I am anymore, but the more and more I think of it.. the more I can't understand who I am." Walking corpses. Blood suckers. A disease. She never once thought she would think of them as anything different. Ana stared at the wavering reflection of the moon glinting off of the waters surface between them.

I'm addicted to the misery in my head
I better stop before I end up dead

[lucius]

There was a response that he had not been anticipating, and yet the feelings he felt coming from her and the steady sound of her heartbeat completely supported what it was that she said. Her softening and relaxing around him was real; Lucius tended to, eventually, have that affect on people. His charisma had always been built around making people not hate or fear him, but rather respect or at least feel safe around him. It was what allowed him to be such a good negotiator between rivals, with all interested parties being able to trust a vampire like he. Though, he had not been particularly charismatic or charming in the past few moments wih Anastasia, so there was something somewhat different here. He did not know, but he was pleased that her desire to hold a dangerous weapon while in his presence was waning considerably. It made him feel a little bit more comfortable as well, though he was not very nervous at all to begin with when it came to being around her. "I am glad. Perhaps you realize that I really do mean you no harm," said Lucius in reply.

So, she had managed to kill one of the elders. Impressive, and yet another testament to her skill in regards to dealing around this dark and dank underworld that they were all so embroiled in. Thirteen centuries was a long time for a vampire, or any non-angelic creature for that matter, to survive. Thirteen hundred years was about the oldest most lycans, save for their originators like Hiro, tended to be found, for it was about that time that the vampires began creating more lycans to serve as guard dogs whilst they slept. It would have taken skill on her part or giving up on the vampire's part for a creature of such age to perish. "His time came, then, if you were able to find and kill him. I'm sure you must have felt a bit of a rush, to kill a creature whose existence predated the discover by Europeans of the rest of the world," said Lucius. "It must have been a tough fight. For you to have survived it, you no doubt have a great deal of skill. You're an impressive woman, Ms. Steele."

Lucius would not--could not--stoop to the eating of rodents and the blood of animals that other vampires of his moral persuasions had turned to. The man was far too much of an aristocrat for something like that. But, when it came to feeding, he tried to pick out more villainous individuals-- criminals and scoundrels. Occasionally his hunger would get the better of him and he would find some other hapless victim. Yet, it still bore down on him whenever he took a life without provocation, even if it was an evil life that he had taken. When he drank one's blood, he inherited that persons memories, and with every evil being he killed he inherited flashes of their dark doings and their degenerate minds, filling his own soul with that painful evil. It was unbearable at times, but he continued none the less. To survive.

"It is the way of life, to lose our identities, and this is only intensified when you deal in the this dark underworld of the damned, my dear. If you permit my modest suggestion, if you want to discover yourself, try not to bury yourself in the hunt of creatures like me. You will find you lose yourself to our curses just as easily as we do," said Lucius, his eyes lowering from the moon to gaze upon her once more. "You have such potential in you. You're confused now, it happens, but you'll find yourself eventually. You mortals have this profound skill of adaptation."

[poss]

Such feelings that overwhelmed her as she stayed afloat by the arm of the elder vampire, were not ones she was very familiar with. Then again, it was rare for her to hold this long of a conversation with anyone that didn't involve threats and sarcasm. The majority of those she spent time with were criminals. Men she caught on the street in a bad situation, or otherwise. Anastasia based her actions off of respect. If you respect her and those around her, then she will respect you. However, if you step out of line and threaten the general public or someone close to her then it would be the end of you. No, she may not kill you, but there was a fine line between respect and disrespect, and for those that crossed it, they never did have a chance to gain her respect back.

His words, those reassuring words that slipped off of his tongue as he came to feel the relaxation of her mind, body and soul along with her, made her smirk softly. "Do not take it to heart if I tend not to believe you, or anyone for that matter, that tries to assure me they mean no harm. Wen it comes to trusting someone, even when given their word, it is very difficult for me. Yet for some reason.. a reason I cannot put my finger on, I am beginning to believe you, Mr. Erif."

The slaughter of the elder had been a painful ordeal. One that she would never forget. "I was in too much pain to truly feel a rush of anything beyond light headedness." Ana offered, smiling lightly. "It was simply a case of being underestimated. The man sought to enslave a slayer and he just happened upon the wrong one. He mind-raped me. This.. sickening ability of his, that upon physical contact, he could dive in to the depths of your mind. It wasn't a silent event, it felt like he used a pick axe to get to every memory my mind possessed. From childhood, to the very taste of food I had enjoyed over the years, and even thoughts I had from moments after birth. It was as if he were reading my life from the pages of a book- he knew me inside and out in that agonizing moment." She paused, shaking her head, eyes hardening their stare but only from the memory of what she had dealt with. "It left me in a crippled heap on the floor. He expected it to last for few days, take on a form of paralysis, as it had with every other victim of his, so he simply turned his back. I do not like to be underestimated- it pushed me to take control of the situation." A soft laugh, her gaze no longer so hard as she glanced down at the ripples of the water. "He had been so sure of himself that he never even disarmed me. If it had not been for that, it would not have been possible."

Lifting her gaze to meet his when he spoke of a suggestion- it was not often she took advice and the hint of humor twisted her lip line, yet she allowed for him to continue. It was better advice than she had though it would be, and she nodded in response, "Those days are behind me. It seems that the more Vampires I meet, the more I question why it is they do not deserve to live If I do." His words, almost resembling a compliment, made her perk a brow."You say that the mortals have a skill to adapt, as if you forget the fact that here you are- in a world over eighteen hundred years after you were born. Surely your ability to adapt is beyond comparison to that of the every day human."

[lucius]

"Well, I am glad for that," he replied, smiling. Whilst he had lamented upon his kind having no purpose in existence, he worked out to give himself a purpose, offering to be a hand of stability and reason on a body of chaos and ignorance. Much of what he did was built up in his ability to gain the trust and confidence of other people so that they could in turn come to him to protect things and act as a willing and impartial negotiator between sides; it was the crux of his whole operation, really. It was his purpose. To guide and mediate between the children that now ruled the world and to ensure that crazy attempts by one race to wipe out or subdue another were always kept in check. Vampires, especially the ones that had come before Lucius and his band of ancients, always had these ideas of enslaving the entire human race, while modern vampires sought the extermination of lycans before enslaving the whole human race. It was all rather silly, thought the ancient vampire.

He frowned as she mentioned what this vampire had done to her mind; an interesting power, much more advanced that Lucius' simple trick of reading the emotions of another. When Lucius drank the blood of someone, he inherited their memories, but he was not able to pry through minds the way that she described. If only he had been with Anastasia when she killed the creature; when he drank the blood of powerful vampires, he could at times inherit some of their gifts... A soft chuckle escaped from his lips as Anastasia explained how she had managed to defeat a vampire elder. Of course. That was the problem of vampires; arrogance. It was their arrogance that made them unwilling to change their ways as the world changed with them, to underestimate the intelligence of lycans and other races, and to underestimate the potential of human beings. "That is the curse of the damned and my kind. We are so perfect in every way that it makes us think we are invulnerable," ruminated the ancient vampire. "But the truth is, as you proved, we are not infallible, we cannot evolve, we have no special right to be here and be powerful. Too many vampires think we do and meet the end you gave that elder of yours. Our vanity is our curse. Mine too."

Yes, Lucius knew he was vain, but he tempered his vanity with wisdom, and was able to see things clearly. He loved art, philosophy, learning, which made it easier for him to see change. Was it all that easy? No. That was why he would occasionally curse another with immortality, a new fledgling in every era to teach him the ways of the world and help him adapt with his antiquated means of doing things. It was how he had survived for so long. "My case is unusual among vampires, as are my views on the world. I do not adapt fully, but more than is expected of my kind. But you humans... Yes, you have your wars, commit your horrors, do you own evils to each other, but I have witnessed in over eighteen-hundred years of existence as your race continued to improve yourselves as a whole to come to dominate this planet and to fight to stamp out injustice," said Lucius, tilting his head as he looked at her. "Me, I adapt by embracing human things. It is control of human media, the use of human technology, that I survive. Vampires do not change. We do not evolve. Our capacity for love, kindness, justice, never grows, nor do our visions for the world. We are cursed to always have the same lot and seek the same things. You've all evolved, though; your souls have changed, and with it, the world. Vampires do not evolve."

[poss]

Everything she feared. Everything she enjoyed. From memories as a child of running through a grassy field after a rabbit to the heart breaking memory of her mother passing away when she was only ten. The damn elder who had stepped unwelcome in to her mind had access to it all. He even had the nerve to lean down, and whisper only the words her mother would use, in a soft, delicate voice resembling the woman's own. It had made Anastasia choke, it had been so real. Being able to mimic ones voice, their sincerity, and use word for word things they had said in the past. It was a cruel joke, yet most likely a very useful power to have at your fingertips. And perhaps it did not need to be such a painful event. Surely that was something the elder had been able to control, and only wished to prove himself almighty and powerful to the petite slayer he had enslaved. He, too was able to levitate and surely there were many other things up his sleeves before she had brought him to his knees.

Lucius spoke of the perfection of his race, causing Anastasia to look up from the rippling moonlight between them, raising a brow. Secretly she wondered what other powers this man was capable of beyond being wise and wealthy. No, she wanted to know more about his supernatural abilities, not the power gained through fame and fortune. "Getting in to this pool tonight. It could have been a mistake, for you, and yet here you are. Is it because you feel invulnerable?" Her eyes never faltered from casting an icy gaze in his direction. It was not a threat, but there was no humor behind it.

His words of evolution amongst the vampires in comparison with the humans.. it was something she had heard before. The Reaper, the alias of an old friend of hers. The man who she feared had a greater influence on her ability to kill than he should have. This.. logic, was his reason behind his desire to cleanse the Earth of the existence of vampires. They have no reason to be here, beyond sport, in his words. He simply saw them as pawns in the killing spree he called life. They made him rich and powerful through their passing, and that was that. Having no other obvious reason to be inhabiting the Earth, he saw to it that every week, month, year, there were fewer of them to deal with. She tried to refocus, holding his gaze as he looked from the moonlight skies down to her with a tilt of her head. "Do you kill when you feed, Mr. Erif?" Slightly off topic, yet it was a question that had been eating at her since he approached her on the street earlier.

[lucius]

Invulnerability. The belief in it was just one small step past the vanity that gripped most vampires. They felt themselves to be gods on earth, with their perfection, their immortality, and their powers. Yes, Lucius at times felt himself falling into this little trip of his curse. His powers surpassed those of most other vampires, and many other immortals for that matter. The ancient vampire elder had created a massive business empire around himself and fortified himself into that fortress tower that was ZaneCorp. He secluded himself from conflict and war, playing the role of an essential and unattackable middle man in the affairs of this dark underworld.

Yet, he did not manage to live as long as he had by totally surrendering to his vanity. He was not invulnerable, despite his power and prestige. Confident, yes-- extremely confident in his abilities, and somewhat not fearful of death. But, his intelligence and logic allowed him to foresee how and why all things came to be, making it difficult for anything to catch him by surprise, making it difficult for him to be fearful of his surroundings. But, he was always mindful nonetheless. He knew he could be taken advantage of easily. "No, I am not invulnerable. I have the power of a god, but that does not mean I am one. I'm just a bit of a risk taker," said Lucius, grinning some at her. "I took a gamble that you wouldn't harm me. Paid off, I think."

Anastasia's next question was answered with no hesitation or pausing, as if he had anticipated it or was used to having to answer such a question before. "Sometimes I do, sometimes I do not," replied Lucius calmly. It was not the most appealing of replies, he understood, but it was the truth. "Honestly it depends on the situation-- how much I need to feed and who I am feeding on. I do not like to kill, as I've hinted at. Sometimes I cannot help it. Sometimes I can help it, but do not want to." Some bits of prey he had felt deserved to die. Criminals he would snatch up, those who threatened him. During the rare instances in his existence when he drank the blood of other vampires, he sometimes drank them dry to inherit their powers. But, for the most part, he did not like to kill when he preyed on blood. It left him feeling guilty... but often it was necessary.

[poss]

Floating in the depths of the large swimming pool, speaking of death in the means of his meals and of invulnerability. Odd conversation to be having with a man you just met, especially when that man was a vampire, and you had a history like Anastasia had. A sense of calm, relaxation, and almost even a hint of trust was in the air. Odd was an understatement. A sight to behold? Perhaps not, but it was a step in the right direction.

His words perked her interest and she met his grin with one of her own, raising a brow as he spoke of being powerful. "The powers of a god? Well, Mr. Erif you cannot leave me hanging now, please- do tell me more about these powers of yours." Ana was a mere mortal. A human, born and raised, untouched by the supernatural beyond her ability to sense ones power with a bit of concentration. However, she felt that was more of a learned skill rather than a true ability. It came with practice, and it still took concentration to grasp fully. When a vampire spoke so openly of powers, she was not going to resist asking for more information. It truly fascinated her. For someone who had never before held a conversation with a vampire that did not involve threats, her genuine interest could not be mistaken.

And yet, he continued on about feeding. Drinking the blood of victims who sometimes perished, while others were.. what? Just left to recoup? "Do they not have slaves for that, Mr. Erif? For feeding, that is? From what I have heard there are some mortals out there who are considered vampire junkies who enjoy being bitten by vampires and used for such things. If you have no already, I suggest getting one." Ana was not one who took the topic of slavery very lightly, but when it came to those who were not held against their will, then she saw it differently. If they were allowed to leave and never return- just walk away one day and never look back, then she had nothign against it.